Turning on the Learning Switch, Essential 7, chapter 10 in Kids Beyond Limits
they love to learn
and sometimes
the deal is stacked against them
and
they have “teachers” and “therapists”
who are teaching them this:
you are a failure at…..
Anat gives the story of Stacy
who had been taught that he was
a failure at reading
naturally he hated to keep being giving
instruction,
none of which he understood, except the uber
message:
you are a failure at reading
so he comes to Anat
she notices his lack of coordination,
his inability to look to the right,
his general disconnect with his body
she notices his emotional warmth
his alertness
his attention to the world outside him
she unlocks his Learning Switch ( her metaphorical idea
for the state in which the brain is ready and able and excited to learn)
via movement
and then wiggles and lines and dots on his face and arms
she gets him excited about shapes
then letters
then reading, comes from him,
not being imposed
so…
read it, it’s better in the book
Anat recommends the obvious:
be present
to yourself
and then to your child:
notice when they are turned on and present
how to get them turned on?
all the essentials:
Movement with Attention
Slow
Variation
Subtle
Enthusiasm
Flexible Goals
Imagination
Awareness
mainly
be present
play with the child
have the child engaged and not stuck
turn offs include:
pain
repetition
fatigue
powerlessness
fear
turn ons
include:
fun
parent awake
be curious
all the essentials, as above
curious about the whole child
curious about and play with and from the child’s interests
the chapters are pretty sweet one by one
I recommend it
cheers,
chris